4.20.2007

Question:Why avoid learning about the story?I’m not at that “there” either. (The I don't want to go there, there.) I know you probably know I’m not a CNN news junkie jonesin’ for my fix. Or for that matter have morbid fixation on the massacre. I am interested in this affair not the psycho killer, (as the excellent story on NPR reminded me this morning), because if you don’t understand why people live in fear, I believe (among other reasons like mental disorders), then you can’t help them live in peace. That story was so good I sat in my car as my eyes welled up for those students who were murdered as they simply were trying to find some meaning in this weird world we live in.

Then maybe you decide to take up Aikido. Take a look at these Yagyu bokkens.

"The Yagyu bokken is a sword of finesse and evasion. The techniques of the Yagyu Ryu involve moving into positions quickly and lightly. This wooden sword is very thin and fast and not oriented to influencing the path of another weapon through heavy contact. These weapons are shaped to the same specifications as the more expensive hand cut Yagyu bokken but are offered in wood grade levels 3 - 5 and have a more economical sanded finish."

Price: $65.00 The total cost is actually going to be 85.00 as we need a higher impact wood grade (5).

4.16.2007

"So I basically said most of the above to the faculty, and then told them that even though I would usually argue that just showing something and not discussing it afterward was a bad idea, that this time - since a meaningful conversation at the end of a long faculty meeting was unlikely - that's what I was going to do. "

4.15.2007

While our minds generally refer to the continent Africa as a unified whole, it is anything but whole. Information technologies, as the article points out, offers a way for the world to help the countries of Africa cross this divide and lead to perhaps a unifed voice of countries we could rightly call: Africa. I found the article invigorating. Traditional landline phones were never a good idea for a developing third-word countries nor is the automobile as a means of mass transit viable. Instead of repeating the so-called civilized countries mistakes, African countries could surpass our own boondoggles.

As we mount offensives on healthcare concerns, stabilizing economies, creating democratic or socialist or representative societies within African countries, the "digital divide" could be a subset of issues addressed to each of these. No longer would we have to wait for crucial medical data to travel weeks if not months to be processed, analyzed and solutions found. Working to decrease the digital divide in these African countries we could be equipping a whole region, nation, village, or the continent with the powerful ability to share vital information and connect people who may never have been connected before in their lifetime. This power: the access to and the sharing of information is the foundational element of success for today and the future. Humanity started it's travel from the African continent this way and it is fitting we return the favor our birth mother. Additionally, with the internet becoming another engine of commerce this could enable poor African countries to leap on the world stage into the era of information technology without having to go through pointless stages like industrialization.

While these are loose thoughts, what if different countries in Africa could report changing weather conditions to scores of well-endowed meteorological research institutions around the world? Could major patterns of world weather be detected? Could it be if we bridge this gap we could prevent another tsunami of genocide or drought or terrorism? Internet access may not seem vital, implemented correctly it could be an incalculable link to unifying the various disparate African countries: is it so hard to believe that the next great technology could come from a person living in some remote village in Kenya; that connecting this person to the "outside world" could be the resource they need to move into the global economy -before the global economy consumes them; this could likely happen somewhere on the African continent as it could come from a small rural US town.

"Insuring that we keep rural America prospering is an important goal for our country...(M)any of the solutions to the challenges we face as a nation can be found in our small towns and rural areas..It's time to create jobs...[and]...renew the promise of rural communities ..."

The Rural Investment to Strengthen our Economy Act (Rural RISE Act) and The School Food Fresh Act promise great actions. While I want to be skepitical saying, "we'll see what happens," this constricting belief coaxes would-be activists into the deadly sleep of apathy; once you are apathetic, you are dead. Easily recongnized those dejected souls, once supporters of these measures, become idle bystanders. Doing so these Acts fail. Then, those souls see the lies they tell themselves become true reality. It truly does not matter if this time around if these acts pass or make an impact. What truly matters is that we do something. The rural US is dying . We hemorrhage towards a slow death through the hearts of our small towns.

Technology may not be the cure for everything but technology could lead to us to a better cure. The Rural RISE Act and School Fresh Food act say to the corporate bullies and flim-flam politicos: we're not going take the your sloppy assuagements as a way to live. Instead we will demand a better system be offered to us: a view of life that is progessive, new, gives information technologies "access powers" where it can create the most value and allows full reciprocity should we want to return to beautifully metronomic pace of small towns. Instead we will demand to be restored in our hearts (our rural towns) and our bodies (the children who are being fed lower quality foods than you would feed animals at times.) It's disturbing to think we consider our children the future strength of our nation and do not provide viable sustenance nor universal health insurance until young adulthood.